


I Will Always Fight With You

by Feathersmeanfreedom



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arthur Finds Out, Fluff, Friendship, Hope, Hopeful Ending, Magic Revealed, Male Friendship, Merlin's Magic Revealed, POV Third Person, before camlann, but mostly platonic merthur, canon until season 5 episode 12, merthur if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 19:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12174867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feathersmeanfreedom/pseuds/Feathersmeanfreedom
Summary: Arthur supposed that even when the world had gone to hell, of course Merlin's rambling would be the one thing to stay the same. So when Arthur's door burst open and was unceremoniously shut, leaving a slightly out of breath Merlin in its wake, he wasn't surprised.Arthur barely had time to look up from maps and potential battle strategies before--“There’s something I need to tell you but it’s going to sound ridiculous because Morgana kind of stole it and I have to go to the Crystal Caves to get it back.”In which Merlin admits to cheating at cards and both Arthur and Merlin have choices. Or maybe it had always been decided.





	I Will Always Fight With You

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the idea that Arthur and Merlin's friendship is a choice for both of them.

Arthur supposed that even when the world had gone to hell, of course Merlin's rambling would be the one thing to stay the same. So when Arthur's door burst open and was unceremoniously shut, leaving a slightly out of breath Merlin in its wake, he wasn't surprised.  


Arthur barely had time to look up from maps and potential battle strategies before--  


“There’s something I need to tell you but it’s going to sound ridiculous because Morgana kind of stole it and I have to go to the Crystal Caves to get it back,”  


Arthur’s brows furrowed, “What on earth are you talking about?”  


As if trying to say it all in one breath, Merlin said, “I have magic, and I’ve been using it for you but Morgana found out and set this magical leech on me and I have to get it back.”  


At this, Arthur’s head snapped up. He regarded Merlin carefully. Not sick--only color staining his cheeks. Not drunk--Merlin never seemed to get hangovers but despised alcohol nonetheless. Not lying--only a wide-eyed, frightened expression and hard breathing.  


Although Arthur wasn’t too sure he could read the latter anymore. “You have magic?”  


Merlin nodded and the adrenaline seemed to flow out of him. A heartbeat where life seemed to pause and the world hung in the balance.  


“And Morgana stole it.” Another nod. “When?”  


“A couple days ago.”  


“And you see fit to tell me now because…”  


“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get it back.” Merlin flexed his hand, as if feeling for something that wasn’t there. He admitted, “It’s strange without it.”  


Arthur rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’s not that bad. Sorcerers go months without using their magic.”  


“It’s different for me.”  


“How so?” Arthur cocked his head slightly.  


“I was born with it. It’s been a part of me for as long as I could remember. And being without it...It would be like losing your sword, except it altered your vision and your hearing and how you felt things,” Merlin tried to explain.  


“Your magic altered your senses?” Arthur asked, incredulous. He was starting to doubt that his ability to tell if Merlin was drunk was wrong as well.  


Merlin nodded. “I could sense the magic in the world.”  


“You mean…people with magic?”  


“No. I mean magic in the world,” At Arthur’s blank look he continued. “Wherever it’s strongest, it’s like humming. Like everything is just happy to exist.”  


Arthur leaned on the table and bowed his head. Merlin watched wearily as he blinked and studied the maps.  


“Morgana will be over confident. She’ll try to kill me herself now that she knows you’re powerless,” Arthur breathed. “She knows we have the better soldiers so she’ll try to divide us. She doesn’t have many sorcerers on her side and the ones she does aren’t very powerful.”  


“She has Mordred.” Merlin said quietly. Arthur looked up sharply at Merlin but he went on. “And Aithusa. The white dragon. She might give Mordred a sword forged with dragon fire.”  


“Mordred has magic as well?” Arthur said. He was calculating. Not letting himself feel. Because there was a war he had to fight with or without Merlin having magic.  


“I think it’s less powerful than Morgana’s but it’s close.”  


“And he knew you have magic?”  


A nod from Merlin. Stepping closer to the table until Merlin could see the maps too. Arthur only looked at him once before studying things he’d already memorized. Merlin knew Arthur wouldn’t let himself feel until he could do it alone. Maybe he’d talk to Gwen about it. Usually Merlin was the person who he’d rant at but not for this. Maybe not anymore.  


“The Druids call me Emrys.”  


“What’s that?”  


“There’s a prophecy about the Once and Future King, you. And Emrys, me. It says that you’re supposed to unite the land after a period of despair and war and I am supposed to help you,” Merlin said.  


At least this got an emotion from Arthur--even if it was confusion. “How?”  


“I don’t know.” At this a look of outrage but Merlin said, “No one’s ever been able to give me a straight forward answer. All I ever got was a cryptic dragon telling me about destiny and probably lying about a dozen things at once.”  


Arthur couldn’t or didn’t want to stop the malicious reply that came. “At least you have something in common.”  


But the king couldn’t bring himself to rejoice at the flinch that came from merlin.  


It took him a moment to think of a reply, but it and the grin that came with were forced, “At least I can fit through doors.”  


Arthur’s reply was forced as well. But it felt better to have a semblance of normalcy than none at all. “I bet the dragon smells nicer.”  


“I thought you swore off betting after the other night?”  


“Just because you won my--” Arthur gave Merlin a long look before finishing in a deadpan. “You cheated didn’t you.”  


The corners of Merlin’s mouth and his eyes betrayed him as a grin fell onto his face.  


“The Mighty Emrys: cheating me at dice. And to think of what Gaius would say.”  


The grin only got wider as Merlin said, “Gaius hasn’t played anything with me in years.”  


Despite his anger, Arthur couldn’t help but smile, “You mean…”  


“First month I was in Camelot we were playing with Geoffry and his assistant and now both of them think Ealdor is famous for its cards players. He set me on Lance and Gwen when he first got here and now Percival refuses to play me. He told me that’s the first thing he said to him when they came after Morgana took Camelot. ‘It could be interesting as long as you don’t play Merlin in any card games.’”  


Arthur’s eyebrows rose in a near perfect replication of Gaius. “You’ve cheated every time you play?”  


“Only when a certain king could stand to have a lighter purse. Will’s father taught us how to play card games when we were kids. Apparently war camps make you very good at gambling,” Merlin said with a hint of mischief in his eyes.  


"Gaius let you cheat?" Arthur asked. This was perhaps the most surprising revelation of the entire day.  


"The goblin might have gotten some ideas for pranks. He's the one who told me how to act when I was Dragoon."  


"You were Dragoon?" Arthur was wrong. This was definitely the most surprising.  


"Will and I used to pretend we were Old Man Simmons from Ealdor. We came up with the most outrageous things. That's how my mother found out Will knew. He made a reference to something we'd said earlier and we laughed so hard she had to know what was so funny."  


And somehow talking about his lost friends didn’t cause him the same pain as it did.  


Arthur sobered, as if he too was thinking about their fates. “He didn’t make that wind storm, did he?”  


Merlin shook his head. “He found out I had magic a year before I left. When my mother found out...she realized it wouldn’t be safe if Will and I said a wrong word near the wrong person. Balinor, that dragonlord? He was my father and small villages generally don’t have open minds. I think it was too much alike for her to be comfortable with it.”  


There were several things in that sentence that Arthur could have--should have asked about. But he had a feeling there would be time later. Once he sorted out the warring emotions inside him and Morgana was no longer a threat.  


“So she sent you to Camelot?” Arthur asked. Hunith was a smart woman and yet, to send your son to the one place that would have him killed for who he was.  


“She and Gaius were friends and she hopped that in a large city I could go unnoticed and learn a trade while I was at it.”  


Arthur snorted at the irony. “So first day you’re here...you get in a fight with the crown prince. You couldn’t have a boring life if you tried.”  


Merlin shrugged, “I’m off to a good start without my magic.”  


“You really lost it?”  


“I don’t know if it could ever leave me. But for now it is.”  


“The Crystal Caves will help you get it back?”  


“It’s the best hope.”  


Arthur nodded thoughtfully. “You should go then. Take whatever you need. Take Gwaine--I won’t let you get killed just because you never bothered how to learn to use a sword. We still have a lot of talking to do when you get your magic back.”  


Merlin gave a small bow with a grin on his face. He started running through a mental list of preparations as he left.  


“Merlin?” Arthur asked when his hand was on the doorknob. Merlin turned around. “I won’t ask you to fight with us.”  


_Even when it’s hopeless, I would never expect someone to fight. But I hope you will anyways._  


Merlin grinned again. “I know you won’t.”  


When the door closed behind Merlin, his unspoken words hung in the air, clearer than if they’d been spoken aloud.  


_That’s exactly why I will always fight with you.  
_

As two horses galloped across the courtyard, something flickered in Arthur’s chest and the king realized it was hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I might expand this, so any imput is welcome.


End file.
